Despite the hustles of everyday life, people are managing time to stay fit. With a pursuit of good health, they are regularly working out. Thanks to the technology, they are also tracking their work progress and calories intake. It is commendable to see them manage some time for themselves fighting all adversities.

MyCity treats all the fitness freaks with a number of workout tips to shape-up your efforts.

Tone up on the Treadmill:

Start on the treadmill. Hold a five pound dumbbell in each hand and start walking briskly. Do a one-minute set each of shoulder presses, biceps curls, triceps extensions, side laterals, front laterals and standing triceps kickbacks one after another as you walk. It's an amazing upper-body challenge that also gets your heart pumping. Do this series two or three times each week. As you improve, work up to doing four-minute sets.

Power up your Runs:

Adding wall sits to the end of every run will strengthen your quads, hamstrings and glutes, improving your speed and endurance. Lean against a wall with your feet shoulder-width apart, then squat until your knees are bent at 45 degrees. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds; work up to doing 10 sets. Add a challenge by including heel raises: Lift your left heel, then the right, then lift both together twice.

Always warm up and cool down

Take 5-10 minutes to gradually raise your heart rate at the beginning of a workout and lower it afterward. Before strength training, do low-intensity cardio that recruits larger muscle groups like your legs, back and core. 

Watch the clock to lose weight:

 In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, women who racked up at least 200 cardio minutes a week for 18 months lost nearly 14 percent of their total body weight. Those who accumulated fewer than 150 minutes reduced their weight by less than 5 percent.

Lift like you mean it:

 If you can do the maximum number of suggested reps (usually 10-12) without feeling fatigued, add pounds (10-15 percent at a time). If you can't complete the minimum number of suggested reps (usually 8), reduce the weight in 10 percent increments until you can. Your last 1 or 2 reps should always feel tough, but doable.

Balance your body:

 To head off injuries, create a more symmetrical look and ensure you have strength for your favorite activities, do exercises for opposing muscle groups. During your weekly routines, if you work the quads, for example, do exercises for your hamstrings as well. The same applies for the biceps and triceps, chest and back and lower back and abs.

Take a day off between weight-lifting sessions:

 Always give muscle groups 48 hours of rest between resistance workouts to allow them time to adapt to the stress you put on them. If you must lift every day, don't target the same muscles in back-to-back sessions.

Don't let your routine become monotonous:

 To continue to make sculpting gains, change the moves, order, weight, sets, reps and/or rest periods you do at least every four weeks.

Try mixing things up more often. According to a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, subjects who varied the number of sets and reps from workout to workout saw greater strength gains over 12 weeks than those who made monthly tweaks.

Source: Shape.com